If professional development programs are to continue in our public educational system, then professional development practices must undergo a change-a change that would meet the needs of the individual practitioner as well as those of the school as a whole. No professional development program could ever be deemed successful unless the plan itself addresses the needs of the students and stipulates how their learning will improve.
To offset these ideas schools should embrace the professional development needs of teachers through a different media. A media that promotes the ideas of developing professional learning environments through the use of social media tools. Social media tools that can provide the necessary resources in aggregation, curation and creation. These are the same skills that students need in order to work effectively in the new emerging workforce. These are the skills of learning how to develop personal learning environments that are cost effective and can point to the overall goal of the school as it moves closer to creating open networks of Classrooms without Walls.
The best examples of connected schools are the schools who have created one to one mobile learning opportunities for the practitioner. In these schools, individual staff members come together with different values, education, skills, motivation, and beliefs. Each member of the instructional staff has an inherent belief about how the education of students should be conducted in his or her classroom. These are the student centered schools. These are the schools who are changing the landscape of instruction to fit the learning needs of their students. These are the schools that are Creating Classrooms without Walls, where professional development is designed to fit the learning needs of the 21st Century.
To offset these ideas schools should embrace the professional development needs of teachers through a different media. A media that promotes the ideas of developing professional learning environments through the use of social media tools. Social media tools that can provide the necessary resources in aggregation, curation and creation. These are the same skills that students need in order to work effectively in the new emerging workforce. These are the skills of learning how to develop personal learning environments that are cost effective and can point to the overall goal of the school as it moves closer to creating open networks of Classrooms without Walls.
The best examples of connected schools are the schools who have created one to one mobile learning opportunities for the practitioner. In these schools, individual staff members come together with different values, education, skills, motivation, and beliefs. Each member of the instructional staff has an inherent belief about how the education of students should be conducted in his or her classroom. These are the student centered schools. These are the schools who are changing the landscape of instruction to fit the learning needs of their students. These are the schools that are Creating Classrooms without Walls, where professional development is designed to fit the learning needs of the 21st Century.
The greatest challenge for these schools has been to develop a cohesive unit in which each individual performs optimally in his or her assigned role while supporting others in theirs. Mutual trust, shared visions, good internal communication, effective judgment under stress, and adherence to goals must all be learned by individual participation. In all cases, these types of professional development assessts are constructed around the idea of developing personal learning networks. Learning networks enhanced by social media environments have a proven way for connected schools to increase their readiness levels for coping with new changes and opportunities.
Connected schools are prepared to handle those change issues that have already emerged and will be well equipped in this age of continuing school reform. Beyond this, connected schools must learn how to cope with a wide range of possible learning theories, by blending 21st Century learning skills into the curriculum. This blending of 21st Century learning into daily instruction is the foundation on why educators need the social networking tools to help prepare to fulfill the needs of the students whom they serve.
True connected schools have learned to cope with change at the individual, group, and organizational levels. They have coped with new standards developed by legislative mandates or by what the latest research teaches them about effective educational practices. These are the school who are motivated to create personal learning environments. Where individuals and groups of teachers explore Web 2.0 resources that can be applied to the classroom setting. They are creative teachers who find, learn and apply Web 2.0 resources to instructional strategies that are proven to be effective. These are the connected schools who support the development of Personal Learning Environments.
Connected schools are prepared to handle those change issues that have already emerged and will be well equipped in this age of continuing school reform. Beyond this, connected schools must learn how to cope with a wide range of possible learning theories, by blending 21st Century learning skills into the curriculum. This blending of 21st Century learning into daily instruction is the foundation on why educators need the social networking tools to help prepare to fulfill the needs of the students whom they serve.
True connected schools have learned to cope with change at the individual, group, and organizational levels. They have coped with new standards developed by legislative mandates or by what the latest research teaches them about effective educational practices. These are the school who are motivated to create personal learning environments. Where individuals and groups of teachers explore Web 2.0 resources that can be applied to the classroom setting. They are creative teachers who find, learn and apply Web 2.0 resources to instructional strategies that are proven to be effective. These are the connected schools who support the development of Personal Learning Environments.
The Personal Learning Environment model is fast becoming recognized as the most flexible, multi-faceted, and individualized approach to learning in education today. To provided continuous learning the professional development plan should explore specific ways in creating a Personal Learning Environment. Ways to use social networking tools for the educational enhancement in everyday learning and how PLEs will become central to applications in the classroom.
In the connected school where Personal Learning Environments thrive teachers, and school leaders learn how changing technologies are key drivers in exploring ways to develop a system that helps manage their own learning. This includes providing support for teachers to set their own learning goals, manage their learning, manage both content and process, and communicate with others in the process of learning. They establish internal and external networks of professional growth by networking through aggregation tools. These are the aggregation and curation tools that allow each teacher to research the web by tagging and sharing webpage's. They spend their some of their professional learning time networking with other professional educators using aggregation services like diigo, delicious, and then bookmark their researched websites that interest them by labeling it and using keywords called tags. Curation tools like Flipboard, Paper.li and Zite establish the development of long term repositories of digital assets.
In the connected school where Personal Learning Environments thrive teachers, and school leaders learn how changing technologies are key drivers in exploring ways to develop a system that helps manage their own learning. This includes providing support for teachers to set their own learning goals, manage their learning, manage both content and process, and communicate with others in the process of learning. They establish internal and external networks of professional growth by networking through aggregation tools. These are the aggregation and curation tools that allow each teacher to research the web by tagging and sharing webpage's. They spend their some of their professional learning time networking with other professional educators using aggregation services like diigo, delicious, and then bookmark their researched websites that interest them by labeling it and using keywords called tags. Curation tools like Flipboard, Paper.li and Zite establish the development of long term repositories of digital assets.